These easy Peanut Butter Blossoms are soft & chewy cookies that are full of creamy peanut butter! It’s a classic cookie recipe that’s loved by all and perfect for the holidays.
Peanut butter blossom cookies are truly great for any time of year but are most popular at Christmas. They are super simple to make, but pack lots of flavor with everyone’s favorite combination: chocolate and peanut butter! Whether adding them to your holiday cookie tray or sharing at a potluck, this easy cookie recipe is sure to be a hit.
And while the twins aren’t quite old enough to help in the kitchen yet (they still put pretty much everything in their mouth and throw things across the room on occasion), I’m anxious to have them help next year. These would be the perfect cookies for baking with children. Although, the twins will probably eat all the chocolate kisses before they ever make it onto the cookies!
Why This Recipe Works
There are a couple of things that make these cookies special. In addition to being easy to make, they are made especially soft and chewy from two essential things:
- An extra egg yolk – I tried these cookies with and without the extra egg yolk and it makes quite a difference! As I mentioned in my macadamia nut cookies recipe, it’s amazing how much of a difference small changes can make to cookies, and this is one of those times. The extra yolk makes these peanut butter blossoms extra chewy and takes them from average to a cookie you cannot stop eating.
- Refrigerating the cookie dough – While I am a big fan of not refrigerating cookie dough when I can get by with it, these really should be refrigerated for at least an hour. Even better if you let the cookie dough sit overnight. It really gives the ingredients a chance to soak into one another. Not only is the flavor better, but the texture! They bake thicker and chewier and stay softer for longer!
Seriously – you don’t want to skip either of those steps!
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need to make peanut butter blossom cookies. You should have most of these ingredients already in your pantry! Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.
- Flour – All-purpose is used here and works well, but gluten-free flour should work as well.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder – These help the cookies rise and add structure.
- Butter – For the base of the cookie dough and adds great flavor.
- Peanut Butter – Clearly necessary here. I’d recommend one that isn’t all-natural or oily. I use creamy peanut butter.
- Brown and White Sugar – You need both. The brown sugar adds a subtle caramel flavor and extra chewiness.
- Eggs – These give your cookies structure and chewiness.
- Vanilla extract and Salt – For flavor! Don’t underestimate the importance of these.
- Chocolate Kisses – The “blossom” part of the cookie and also – chocolate! Of course, there are lots of chocolate kiss varieties and even other candies you could add to the center too.
Here’s how to make the perfect peanut butter blossom cookies step-by-step:
- Make your cookie dough. Start by creaming the butter, peanut butter and sugars together, then add in the eggs and vanilla extract. The final step is to mix in the dry ingredients. Easy!
- Refrigerate the cookie dough. As I mentioned above, you want to chill the dough for at least 1 hour. For best results, I’d recommend refrigerating it overnight.
- Roll dough into balls. Let the cookie dough soften a bit and then roll into balls of about one tablespoon of dough each. Keep in mind that if you make larger balls of dough, the cookies will spread more. Roll each ball in the additional sugar.
- Bake the cookies. Once the cookies come out of the oven, press an unwrapped chocolate kiss to the center. The kisses will soften and melt, but if you just leave them alone they firm back up as they cool. You could also pop them in the fridge or freezer for a bit to speed up the cooling of the chocolate.
How to Store Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Counter: If stored in an airtight container on the counter, they should be good for about 4-5 days.
- Freezer: If you’d like to freeze them, you can freeze the cookie dough before baking it or freeze them after baking. Thaw the cookies in the fridge prior to serving, or set one or two at a time out to thaw.
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Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 40
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These peanut butter blossom cookies are soft, chewy and full of creamy peanut butter! A classic cookie recipe that’s loved by all.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (140g) peanut butter
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (78g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (112g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3–4 tablespoons additional granulated sugar, for rolling
- 40–45 Chocolate Kisses
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. Do not over mix.
- Wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least one hour. The cookies turn out even better (thicker and more chewy – and for longer) if you refrigerate it overnight.
- After refrigerating the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
- Let the dough soften enough to work with it, then form balls of 1 tablespoon of cookie dough. Do not make the cookies larger than that or they will spread too much.
- Roll the cookie dough in the additional sugar, then place on the cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes. While they bake, unwrap the chocolate kisses.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. The kisses will melt, but will firm up again once cooled completely. To speed up the cooling of the chocolate, you could pop the cookies into the freezer or fridge.
- Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies should be good for 5-7 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 249
- Sugar: 1.2 g
- Sodium: 236.5 mg
- Fat: 12.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.8 g
- Fiber: 2.7 g
- Protein: 8.5 g
- Cholesterol: 93 mg
Keywords: peanut butter blossoms recipe, peanut butter blossom cookies, christmas cookie recipes
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Hey Lindsay, I was wondering if I could use this recipe for peanut butter blossoms for thumbprint cookies? I looked over your recipe for jam thumbprint cookies but I was curious about a peanut butter and jelly thumbprint version. So could I use this recipe and fill the cookie with jam instead of a Hershey kiss? Thank you.
I haven’t tried it, but I think that would work fine. Sounds yummy!